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Vol. 82, No. 6 * Feather Publishing Co.. Inc. • 5,~u--o4-,ovv - ,,,,,,.~, ................
Year in review: 2011 full of change
The Feather River Land Trust reached an agreement with the Pearce family to preserve the Pearce Ranch, one of the county's
oldest working family ranches, through a conservation easement on the property allowing wildlife and the ranching way of life to
be protected for future generations. Photo by Susy Pearce/courtesy Feather River Land Trust
ae 2o 1 t
ye ln i
Dee. 29, 2010
CSD water good; depot still
pending After a meeting
with county officials, the
location of the historical
Western Pacific Greenville
Freight Depot is still in
question.
Greenville residents who
were used to boil water
notices during major storm
events may hot have noticed,
but they did not receive one
this time.
The new state-of-the-art
membrane filtration system
is handling the storms well,
according to chief operator
Jesse Lawson
Jan. 5, 2011
Employment 0utlook:
Little growth in the north
state -- Declines in the state's
northernmost manufacturing
and information industries
will be tempered somewhat
by growth in government
and health care industries,
according to new projections
released last week by the
Employment Development
Department.
Jan. 12
Travis Rubke named
teacher of the year Out
of 140 high schools and
hundreds of teachers, it was
Greenville Junior-Senior
High School teacher Travis
Rubke who was named
Educator of the Year for
Region 2.
Cause of plane crash
unknown -- Two part-time
Plumas County residents,
pilot Ronald Gilmore, 76, and
his wife Janet, were killed
when their private plane
crashed near Chester.
Jan. 19
Jack Frost lets go
Residents who have been
grumbling about below-
freezing temperatures should
be pleased with recent
warmer temperatures.
Veterans services reorgani-
zation complete -- The
Plumas County Board of
Supervisors formalized its
reorganization of local
veterans services, folding it
into the Public Health
Agency.
Jan. 26
State budget to hurt county
"Right now you know a
lot of people are going to
be hurt," reported Plumas
County Administrative Offi-
cer Jack Ingstad to county
supervisors. ,We kn~w there
will be major realignment
with some of the services the
county provides; we know
the fair money is anticipated
to go away."
Good news for supervisors
Ingstad reported that sales
tax was down only $2,000,
probably due to the shop
locally campaign, and tran-
sient occupancy tax was up
by $56.
Feb. 2
Schramel resigns CSD seat
-- "The CSD is doing well
now due in part to your
leadership and should so
continue into the future. I
hope I added something to its
success during my tenure,"
former Plumas County super-
visor and long-time Indian
Valley Community Services
District director John
Schramel wrote in his
resignation letter to General
Manager Leanna Moore.
"Sincere best wishes for
continued effective public
service."
Feb. 9
Members, locals turn out to
support Taylorsville grange
-- The meeting room of
the Grange filled to over-
flowing with members and
supporters, several of whom
joined in good faith to keep
alive a community tradition
of more than 80 years.
Feb. 16
Can the rancher and the
water folks still be friends?
Restoration of the upper
Feather River watershed
might be all the rage for
those who want to help
migratory birds, trout and
water-hungry Southern Cali-
fornia, but to the people who
live and work on the land, it's
become an unquenchable
quest for answers.
How do we protect our
historic water rights? What
if the restoration projects
result in less water for users
and not more?
Feb. 23
GHS natural resources
program growing strong-
Natural Resources Advisory
Committee members did
their jobs well last year,
for Greenville High School
students used their advice
and made great strides this
past year.
They also moved up in
placement at the annual
Forestry Challenge, coming
in seventh out of 24 other
schools.
March 2
Greener pastures for all
Watershed improvement
work by local ranchers is
often overlooked.
"There is a definite need
for a more balanced look at
some of the stream restora-
tion projects and their im-
pacts to downstream water
users," wrote Carol Dobbas,
executive director of the
Upper Feather River Water-
shed Group. "The reviews of
these projects seem to be
short on balance, and project
shortcomings have not been
publicly acknowledged or
objectively studied."
March 16
CSD moves on amid
appreciation, disappointment
Appreciation for jobs well
done for Greenville water
users and disappointment in
a dried-up revenue idea were
among the highlights of the
Indian Valley Community
Services District meeting.
Jobs well done were for
grant writing and efforts to
bring the $2.6 million water
treatment plant online in
Greenville, and the idea of
selling unused water from
Round Valley Reservoir
to the East Bay Municipal
Utility DistriCt is the revenue
source idea that dried up
when officials there decided
not to seek the water.
March 23
Changes on tap for ambu-
lance service How much
will it cost for an ambulance
ride now?
There just isn't enough
utilization, Indian Valley
Ambulance Service Autho-
rity Chairman Guy McNett
said of the ambulance
service, which is available
locally thanks to a subsidy
from the $45 special tax
homeowners in the district
pay each year.
At one time the service was
provided at no out-of-pocket
expense.
March 30
Break-ins plague center-
During construction and the
first three months of being
open to the public, numerous
break-ins have occurred at
the Indian Valley Commu-
nity Center in Greenville,
Indian Valley Recreation
and Parks District Adminis-
trator Dawnette Dryer asks
for residents and law enforce-
ment officers to be watchful:
Valley's high water just
ducky -- Colorful wood duck
drakes are out and abou(
with their mates. They
are easily seen from local
roadways due to the high,
water.
April 6
Cracked power pole threat-
ens home When he heard
the loud crack and looked
up to see a power pole falling
toward the Main Street home
of Brandon Robinson, all
Greenville businessman Bink
Huddleston could think of
was saving the young
children he thought were
inside.
Posch earns top honors and
$500 at science fair Efforts
to design a better helicopter
propeller won Alexandra
Posch the grand prize in ,the
science fair hosted by
Greenville Junior-Senior
High School.
April 13
Students investigate archi,
tecture -- Students both
young and old are giving
back to their community in
creative ways that maximize
the benefit for all.
A Greenville alumnus,
along with his Cal!if~)rnia
College of the Arts~ --~'architec~
ture classmates, introduced
local charter school students
to a variety of design con-
cepts and the modern tech-
nology they use to transform
their ideas into tangible
results.
Award winning chefs --
Greenville High School
Culinary Team members
each brought home medals
and prizes for winning
second place at the California~
ProStart Competition in
Pomona. Team members
were John Hindorff, Kayla
Isitt, Denise Ginger .and Sam
TomaseUi.
April 20
School district trustees
support change to parcel tax
law -- Plumas Unified School
District directors voted to
ask the state Legislature to
eliminate the two-thirds
majority enacted in the tax-
payer revolt of 1978 (Proposi-
tion 13), but only for approval
See YIR, page 4A
? and all of the Indian ValleyArea
Wednesday, Dec. 28,2011
50¢
Supervisors step
forward for Pew
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
drncdonald@plumasnews.com
The largest employer in
Greenville said it might be
too late to save his logging
business and the 30-plus jobs
that go with it.
But Plumas County super-
visors said they are going to
keep doing "everything in
our power" to help.
Supervisors Robert Meacher
and Jon Kennedy met with
Regional U.S. Forest Service
Deputy Dan Jiron Thursday,
Dec. 22, to plead the case of
Pew Forest Products.
The supervisors also sent a
letter to U.S. Forest Service
Chief Tom Tidwell in Wash-
ington, D.C.
Randy Pew said his company
has been unsuccessfully bat-
tling the Forest Service over
a botched 2009 timber fire
sale.
He said the losses he
sustained trying to salvage
logs left behind from the
2007 Moonlight Fire are
"catastrophic." Pew said he
has about $1 million in
unpaid bills. He said that
without immediate financial
help, his company would be
out of business.
"We are at the end of
our rope," Pew told the super-
visors during their meeting
Tuesday, Dec. 20. "I don't
know what else to do. You're
(supervisors) our local people
that I can go to: I've gone to
the local Forest Service.
I can't deal with the
(Forest Service's) contracting
officer."
Meacher and Kennedy
joined Pew for his Thursday
meeting with Jiron at
the Forest Service regional
headquarters in Vallejo. The
meeting didn't produce the
promise of a settlement from
the Forest Service. But
Kennedy said he felt Jiron
understood the urgency of
getting the matter settled.
"The Forest Service knows
they are not going to be able
to sit on this," Kennedy said.
"We are not going to let them
do that."
The Forest Service has
rejected Pew's claim that
it made an error when it esti-
mated the volume of usable
timber available on land that
Pew Forest Products bid on.
Pew said the volume of
salvageable timber was up
to 90 percent less than the
Forest Service "cruise" said
there was..A "cruise" is an
estimate of the harvestable
timber.
The Forest Service contract
allows for a 20 percent mar-
gin of error on its cruises.
The contract also states that
it is ultimately the logger's
responsibility to cruise the
land before making a bid.
However, Pew said the
week he was given by the
Forest Service wasn't enough
time to conduct a thorough
cruise on the 6,000-acre burn
site. So he relied on the
Forest Service estimates.
He said his company has
done more than 100 salvage
operations for the Forest
Service in the past 30 years.
And the volume of timber
was almost always more than
the Forea~.~Service's esti-
mates.
Pew said the Forest Service
cruise on the Moonlight Fire
acreage (called the Cairn
sale) was up to 90 percent off
See Pew, page 2A
Huddleston honored
Alicia Knadler
Indian Valley Editor
aknadler@plurnasnews.corn
Greenville businessman
Bink Huddleston is the
newest Indian Valley
Community Member of the
Year.
Retired Round Valley Lake
Resort owners Bob and
Deanna Carter presented
him with the annual award
Dec. 15, during the Indian
Valley Chamber of Com-
merce Year End Mixer in
the Greenville Town Hall.
Huddleston came to Indian
Valley with his family in
1965.
He graduated from Green-
ville High School in 1967,
after makinga name for him-
self as an outgoing young
man who was friendly, athletic
and musically talented.
After school, he worked
with his now late father,
Buck, in the construction
business.
With his own son, Bink
established the renowned
Main Street Antiques, now
known as Sterling Sage, and
he bought the Hideaway
Lodge, made famous in
the Pink Cadillac movie star-
ring Clint Eastwood and
Bernadette Peters.
Huddleston has served on
the chamber board since 2002,
was president of the board
from 2003 - 2011, and is now
the vice president.
He joined the Greenville
Cy Hall Memorial Museum
board in 2001, and has been
president since 2005.
Fellow museum directors
credit his supervision with
the early finish and opening
of the museum.
Huddleston enjoys cooking
and has volunteered his
culinary efforts for many
community suppers and
chamber mixers.
Greenville businessman and
president of two local boards
of directors, Bink Huddleston
is the newest Indian Valley
Community Member of the
Year. Photo by Jeff Titcomb
Holiday deadlines
Due to the upcoming
holiday, all Feather Pub-
lishing offices will be
closed Monday, Jan. 2,
2012. This will affect dead-
lines for the newspaper.
Deadlines for the Wed-
nesday, Jan. 4, Plumas-
Westwood editions:
Real Estate Display
advertising and all other
Display Advertising and
Legal (Public) Notices are
due Wednesday, Dec. 28, by
noon.
News releases- includ-
ing letters to the editor,
births and cards of thanks
-- are due by Thursday,
Dec. 29, at noon. Call 283-
0800 for obituary deadline.
Classified reader ads are
due Friday, Dec. 30, at 9 a.m.
To subscribe to the Record,
call 530-283-0800